XXX sermons lately preached at the parish church of Saint Mary Magdalen Milkstreet, London to which is annexed, A sermon preached at the funerall of George Whitmore, Knight, sometime Lord Mayor of the City / by Anthony Farindon.

THE TENTH SERMON.

PART VI.

EZEKIEL 33.11.

—why will you die, Oh House of Is∣rael?

WEE have lead you through the Chambers of Death; through the school of Discipline; The School of feare. For why will ye Die? Look upon Death, and feare it; and you shall not Dye at all.

Thus farre are we gone.

We come now, ad domum Israelis, to the House of Israel: Why will ye die oh house of Israel? For to name Israel, is an Argument: Take them as Israel, or take them as the House of Israel: Take the House for a Building, or take it for a family, and it may seem strange, and full of Admiration, that Israel, which should prevaile with God, should embrace Death; That the House

of Israel compact in it self, should ruine it self: In Edom 'tis no strange sight to see men run on in their evill wayes; In Mesheck, or the Tents of Kedar, there might be at least some colour for a Reply; but to Israel, it is Gravis expostulatio, a heavy, and full Expostulati∣on. Let the Amorites and Hittites; let the Edomites, let Gods ene∣mies perish; but let not Israel the People of God Dye. Why should they die? The Devil may be an Edomite; but God forbid he should be an Israelite.

The Quarè moriemini? why will ye Die? we see, is levell'd to the marke, is here in its right and proper place, and being directed to Israel, is a sharp and vehement exprobration. Oh Israel, why will ye die? I would not have you die: I have made you gentem selectam, a chosen people, that you may not Die: I have set before you Life and Death; Life, that you may chuse it, and Death, that you may run from it; and why will you die? My sword is drawne to affright, and not to kill you; and I hold it up, That I may not strike: I have placed death in the way, that you may stop and retreat, and not go on: I have set my Angel, my Prophet, with a sword drawne in his Hand, That at least you may be as wise, as the Beast was under Baalam, and sink, and fall down under your Burden. I have im∣printed the very Image of Death in every sinne; will ye yet goe on? will ye love sinne, that hath such a foule face, such a terrible countenance, that is thus clothed, and apparrell'd with Death? Quis furor oh Cives? what a madnesse is this, oh ye Israelites? As Herod once upbraiding Cassius for his seditious behaviour in the East, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; wrot no more but this, Herod to Cassius. Thou art mad; * 1.1 so God may seem to send to his People. God, by his Prophet, to the Israelites, you are mad. Therefore doe my people run on in their evill wayes, * 1.2 because they have no understanding. For now look upon Death; and that affrights us: Look upon God, and he exhorts us: Reflect upon our selves, and we are an Israel, a Church of God. There is no cause of dying, but not Turning: no cause of destruction, but Impenitency: If we will not die; we shall not die; and if we will Turne, we cannot die at all; for that if we die, God passeth sentence upon us, and condemnes us, but kills us not; but perditio tua ex te Israel, our destruction comes from our selves: It is not God, it is not death it self, that kills us, but we die, be∣cause we will.

Now by this Touch, and short descant on the words so much Truth is conveyed unto us, as may acquit and discharge God as no way accessary to our death: and to make our Passage cleer and plain, we will proceed by these steps or degrees; draw out these three Conclusions. 1. That God is not willing we should die. 2. That he is so far from willing our death, that he hath plenteously afforded suffici∣ent

meanes of life and salvation, which will bring in the Third and last; That if we die, our death is voluntary; That no other reason can be given of our death, but our own will. And the due consideration of these three, may serve to awake our shame, * 1.3 as death did our feare, which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (as Nazianzen speaks) another Help and furtherance to worke out our Salva∣tion.

Why will ye die, oh House of Israel?

And first, That God is not willing we should die, is plaine enough; First, from the Obtestation, or Expostulation it self: Secondly, from the Nature of God, who thus expostulates. For 1. why will ye die? is the voice of a friend, not of an enemy; He that askes me, why I will die? by his very Question assures me, he intends not to de∣stroy me: God is not as man, that he should lie; what he works, he workes in the cleer and open day: His fire is kindled to enflame us; his water flows to purge and cleanse us; his oyle is powred forth to supple us; his commands are not snares, nor his Precepts Accusations: He stamps not the Devill's face upon his Coyne; He willeth not, what he made not, and he made not Death, saith the Wiseman. He wisheth, he desireth we should live; he is angry, * 1.4 and sorry if we die. He looks down upon us, calls after us; he ex∣horts, and rebukes, and even weepes over us, as our Saviour did over Jerusalem, and if we die, we cannot think that he that is life it self, should kill us. If we must die, why doth he yet complaine? why doth he expostulate? for if the Decree be come forth, if we be lost already, why doth he yet call after us? how can a desire, or com∣mand breath in those coasts, which the power of an absolute will hath laid waste already? if he hath decreed we should die, he can∣not desire we should live, but rather the Contrary, that his Decree be not void, and of no effect; otherwise to passe sentence, an irre∣vocable sentence of Death; and then bid us live, is to look for liberty and freedome, in Necessity, for a sufficient effect, from an unsuffi∣cient cause; to command, and desire that, which himself had made impossible; to ask a Dead man, why he doth not live, and to speak to a carcasse, and bid it walk. Indeed by some this, why will you die? is made but sancta simulatio, but a kind of holy dissimulation, so that God with them, sets up man as a marke, and then sticks his deadly arrows in his sides, and after askes him, why he will die? And why may he not, saith one, with the same liberty Damne a soul, as a Hunter kills a Deere? (a bloody instance) as if an immortall soul, which Christ set at a greater rate, then the World it self, nay, then his own most pretious Blood, were in his sight of no more va∣lew, then a Beast, and God were a mighty Nimrod, and did destroy

mens souls for delight and pleasure. Thus though they dare not call God the Author of sinne (for who is so sinfull, that could hear and not Anathematize it?) yet others, and those no children in un∣derstanding, think it a Conclusion, that will naturally, and neces∣sarily follow upon such bloody premises; and they are more en∣couraged by those ill-boding words, which have dropt from their quills; For say some; vocat, ut induret; He calls them to no other end, but that he may harden them; he hardens them, that he may de∣stroy them; He exhorts them to turn, that they may not Turn••; He asks them, why they will die; that they may run on in their evill wayes, even upon Death it self: when they break his command, they fulfill his will; and 'tis his pleasure they should sinne; 'tis his pleasure, they should die; and when he calls upon them not to sinne, when he asks them, why they will die, he doth but Dissemble, for they are dead already; Horribili decreto, by that horrible, antecedaneous De∣cree of Reprobation.

And now tell me; If we admit of this, What's become of the expostulation? what use is there of the obtestation? why doth he yet ask, why will ye Die? I called it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a reason unanswerable; but if this Fancy, this Interpretation take place, it is no reason at all, why will ye die? the Answer is ready (and what o∣ther answer can a poore praecondemned soul make?) Domine Deus tu nosti, Lord God thou knowest: Thou condemnest us before thou mad'st us; Thou didst Destroy us, before we were; and if we die, Even so, Good Lord, For it is thy good pleasure; Fato volvimur, it is our Destiny; or rather, Est deus in nobis, not a stoicall fate, but thy right hand, and thy strong irresistible Arme hath destroyed us, and so the expostulation is answered, and the Quare mortemini is nothing else, but mortui estis, why will ye die? that's the Text; the Glosse is, you are dead already.

But in the Second place, That this expostulation is true and Hearty, may be seen in the very Nature of God, who is Truth it self; who hath but one property, and Quality, saith Trismegistus, and that is Goodness; and therefore cannot bid us live, when he in∣tends to kill us: For consider God before man had fallen from him by sin and disobedience, and we shall see nothing but the works of his Goodnesse, and Love. The heavens were the workes of his Fingers; * 1.5 he created Angels, and men, he spake the word, and all was done, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉? saith Basil: what necessity was there, that he should thus break forth into Action? who compell'd him? who perswaded him? who was his Counsellor? He was All-suffi∣cient, and stood in need of nothing, * 1.6 non quasi Indigens plasmavit Adam, saith Irenaeus, it was not out of any indigencie, or Defect in himself, that he made Adam after his Image. He was all to

himself before he made any thing, nor could millions of Worlds have added to him. What was it to him, that there were Angels made, or Seraphin, or Cherubin? he gain'd not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, * 1.7 said Aristotle, for there could be no Accession, nothing to heighten his perfection. Did he make the world 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Athenagor as calls it, as an Instrument to make him Musick? Did he cloth the Lilies, and dresse up Nature in various colours to de∣light himself? or could he not reigne without man? saith Miran∣dula? God hath a most free, and powerfull and immutable will, and therefore it was not necessary for him to work, or to begin to work, but when he would; for he might both will, and not will the Creation of all Things, without any change of his will, but it pleased him out of his goodness, thus to break forth into Action: will you know the cause, saith the Sceptique, why he made world? * 1.8〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; He was good; Nihil ineptius, saith one, quam cogitare Deum nihil agentem; There is nothing more vaine then to conceive that God could be idle, or doing of nothing; and were it not for his Goodnesse, we could hardly conceive him ad extrà agentem; work∣ing any thing out of himself, who was 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, All-sufficient, * 1.9 and Blessed for evermore, infinitely happy, though he had never created the Heaven, and the Earth, though there had neither been Angel or man to worship him; but he did all these things because he was good. Bonitas saith Tertul. otium sui non patitur, hinc censetur, * 1.10 si agatur, Goodness is an Active, and restlesse quality, and it is not, when it is Idle; it cannot containe it self in it self, and by his Goodness he made man, made him for his Glory, and so to be par∣taker of his happiness; placed him here on earth, to raise him up to Heaven, made him a living soul, ut in vitâ hac compararet vitam, that in this short and Transitory life, he might fit himself for an Abiding City, and in this moment work out Aeternity. Thus of Himself, God is good, nor can any evill proceed from him; if he frowne, we first move him: if he be angry, we have provoked him; if he come in a Tempest, we have rais'd it; if he be a consuming fire, we have kindled it; we force him to be, what he would not be; we make him Thunder, who is all Light. * 1.11 Bonitas ingenita, severitas Acci∣dens; Alteram sibi, alteram rei Deus praestitit, saith the Father, his goodnesse is Naturall, his severity (in respect of its Act) Acciden∣tall; for God may be severe, and yet not punish; for he strikes not till we provoke him; his Justice, and severity are the same, as ever∣lasting as himself, though he never speak in his wrath, nor draw his sword; If there were no Hell, yet were he just, and if there were no Abrahams Bosome, yet were he Good; if there were neither Angel nor men, he were still the Lord, blessed for evermore; in a word, he had been just though he had never been Angry; he had been mercifull, though man had not been miscrable, he had been the same God, just, and good, and mercifull, though sin had not entred

in by Adam, nor Death by sinne. God is active in Good, and not in Evill, he cannot doe what he doth detest and hate, he cannot De∣cree, Ordaine, or further that, which is most contrary to him; he doth not kill me before all time, and then in time, aske me why I will die? He doth not Condemne me first, and then make a Law, that I may break it. He doth not blow out my Candle, and then punish me for being in the dark. That the conviction of a sinner should be the onely end of his Exhortations, and Expostulations cannot consist with that Goodness, which God is, who when he comes to punish, * 1.12 sacit opus non suum, saith the Prophet, doth not his owne worke, doth a strange work, a strange Act, an Act that is for∣ced from him, a worke which he would not doe.

And as he doth not will our Death, so doth he not desire to ma∣nifest his Glory in it; which (as our Death) proceeds from his se∣condary, and occasion'd will; For God, saith Aquinas, seeks not the manifestation of his Glory, * 1.13 for his own, but for our sakes; His glory as his Wisdome, and Justice, and Power, is with him alwayes, as eternall as himself; no Quire of Angels can improve, no raging Devil can diminish his Glory, which in the midst of all the Hallelu∣jahs of Seraphin, and Cherubin, in the midst of all the Blasphe∣mies of men and Devills, is still the same; and his first will is to see it in his Image, in the conformity of our wills to his, where it strives in the perfection of Beauty, rather then when it is decay'd and defaced, rather then in a Damned Spirit; rather in that Saint he would have made, then in that Reprobate, and cursed soul, which he was forced to throw into the lowest pit, and so to receive his Glo∣ry, is, that which he would not have, which he was willing to be∣gin on Earth, and then have made it perfect and compleat in the highest Heavens. * 1.14 Exinde admortem sed ante ad vitam; The sentence of Death was pronounced against man, almost as soon as he was man; but he was first created to life; we are punished for being evill, but we were first commanded to be good; his first will is, That we glorify him in our Bodies, and in our soules; but if we frustrate his loving expectation here, then he rowseth himself up as a mighty man, and will be avenged of us, and work his Glory, out of that which dishonor'd him, and write it with our blood. In the multitude of the People, * 1.15 is the Glory of a King, saith the wisest of Kings, and more Glory, if they be obedient to his laws, then if they rebell, and rise up against him; That Common-wealth is more glorious, where every man fills his place, then where the Prisons are filled with Theeves, and Traytors, and men of Belial; and though the Ju∣stice, and wisedome of the King may be seen in these, yet 'tis more resplendent in those, on whom the Law hath more Power, then the sword. In Heaven is the glory of God best seen, and his delight is in it; to see it in the Church of the First-borne, and in the soules of just

men made perfect, it is now indeed his will, which primarily was not his will, to see it in the Divel and his Angels. For God is best plea∣sed to see his Creature man, to answer to that patte••e, which he hath set up, to be what he should be, and what he intended: And, as every Artificer glories in his work, when he sees it finish't accor∣ding to the rule, and that Idea, which he had drawne in his minde; and as we use to look upon the work of our hands, or witts, with that favour and complacency we doe upon our Children, when they are like us; so doth God upon man, when he appeares in that shape and forme of Obedience, which he prescrib'd; for then the Glory of God is carried along in the continued streame, and course of all our Actions, breaks forth, and is seen in every worke of our Hands, is the Eccho of every word we speak, the result of every Thought, that begat that word; and it is Musick in his eares, which he had rather heare, then the weeping and howling of the Dam∣ned, which he will now heare, though the time was, when he us'd all fitting meanes to prevent it, even the same meanes, by which he raised those, who now glorify him in the Highest Heaven.

God then, is no way willing we should die; not by his Naturall will which is his prime, and antecedent will; for Death cannot issue from the Fountaine of Life, and by this will was the Creature made in the beginning, and by this preserved ever since; by this are administred all the meanes to bring it to that perfection and hap∣piness for which it was first made; for the goodness of God it was, which first gave a being to man, and then adopted him in spe•…•… reg•…•…i, design'd him for immortality, and gave him a Law, by the fulfilling of which, he might have a Tast of that Joy and Happinesse, which he from all Eternity possest. And therefore secondly, not volunta∣te praecepti, not by his will exprest in his command, in his precepts, and Laws; For under Christ, this will of his is the onely destroyer of Death, and being kept and observ'd, swallows it up in victory; for how can Death touch him, who is made like unto the living Lord? or how should Hell receive him, whose conversation is in heaven? * 1.16 If we do them, we shall even live in them, saith the Prophet, and he repeats it often, as if Life were as inseparable from them, as it is from the living God himself, by which, as he is life in himself, so to man, whom he had made, he brought life and immortality to light. And these his Precepts are defluxions from him, the proper issue of his naturall and primitive desire, of that generall Love of good∣will which he did beare to his Creature, and the only way to draw on that love of Friendship, that neerer Relation by which we are one with him, and he with us, by which he calls us his Children, and we cry Abba, Father; his first will ordain'd us for good, his second will was publisht, and set up as a light, to bring us to that good, for which we were made and created.

But we are told, there is in God, voluntas permissionis, a permis∣sive will, or a will of permission; and indeed some have made great use of this wo••d permission; and have made it of the same neces∣sitating power and efficacy, with that, by which God made the Hea∣vens and the Earth, for we find it in Terminis, in their writings, positâ peccati permissione, necesse est ut peccatum eveniat, that upon the permission of sinne, it must necessarily follow, that sinne must be committed; They call it permission, but before they winde up their Discourses, the word, I know not by what Logick, or Grammar hath more significations put upon it, then God or nature ever gave it. * 1.17 Romani ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant, say the Ancient Britons in Tacitus, The Romanes, where by Fire and Sword they lay the Land waste, and Turne all to a Wildernesse, call it Peace, so here the word is permission, but currente rotâ, whilst they are hot, and busy in their work, at last it is, Excitation, stirring up, Inclining, hard∣ning, permittere is no lesse then Impellere, permission is Compulsion, & by their Chymistry, they are able to extract all this out of this one word and more, as, That God will have that done, which he forbids us to doe; God doth not will, what he tells us, he doth will; That some are cast asleep from all eternity, that they may be Hardned, and all this with them is but permission. And to make this Good, we are told That God hath on purpose created some men with an intent to permit them to fall into sin? and this at first sight is a faire Proposition, that car∣ries Truth written in the very forehead, but indeed it is deceitfull upon the weights, one thing is said, and another meant. God hath created some, and why some, and not all? for no doubt the condition of Creation is the same in all. And why with a purpose to permit them to fall into sinne? did he not also create them with a purpose, that they should walk in his Commandements? Certainly both, and ra∣ther the last then the former; for God indeed permits sinne, but withall forbids it; but he permits, nay he commands us to doe his will. Permission lookes upon both, both upon sinne, and upon O∣bedience; on the one side it meets with a check, on the other with a Command, That we may not doe what is but permitted, and Forbidden, and that we may yeeld ready Obedience to that which is not permitted onely, but commanded. It was a Custome a∣mongst the Ancients 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to number and cast up their Accounts with their fingers, * 1.18 as we do by Figures and Counters, whence Orontes the Persian was wont to say, Eundem digitum nunc Decem millia, nunc unum ostendere, that the same finger with some alteration and change, did now signifie Ten thousand, and in another posture and motion but one; The same use some men have made of this word permission, which they did of their fingers. In its true sense, and naturall place, it can signifie no more then this, A purpose of God, not to Intercede by his Omnipotency,

and hinder the committing of those sinnes, which if he permitted not, could not once have a being: but men have learnt so to place it, that it shall stand for Ten Thousand; for Inclination, and excita∣tion, and induration, and all these Fearfull expressions, which leave men chain'd and Fetter'd with an Inevitable necessity of sinning, and so make that, which in God is but merely permission, infallibly effective, and so damne men with gentler Language, and in a soster phrase; he permits them; That he doth, that he must doe; but their meaning is, His absolute will is, that they should die; and let them shift as they please, and wind and Turne themselves to slip out of reach; after all Defalcations and substractions they can make, it will arise neere to this Summe, which I am almost afraid to give you, That God is willing we should die. For to this purpose, they bring in also Gods Providence; To this purpose? I should have said, To none at all; For though God rule the world, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, by this Law of Providence, as Nazianz. calls it, though he disposeth and ordereth all things, and all actions of men, yet he layes not any Law of Necessity upon all things. * 1.19 Some effects he hath fitted with necessary causes, that they may infallibly fall out, saith Aquinas, and to other effects, which in their owne nature are contingent, he hath applyed Contingent Causes, so that, that shall fall out Necessarily, which his Providence hath so disposed of, and that Contingently, which he hath left in a Contingency; and both these in the nature of things necessary and Contingent are within the verge and rule of his Providence, and he alters them not, but ex∣trà ordinem, when he would doe some extraordinary worke, when he would work a Miracle. The Sunne knoweth his seasons, and the Moon its going down, and this in a constant and unchangeable course, but yet he commanded the Sunne to stand still in Gibeon, * 1.20 and the Moon in the valley of Ajalon. But then, I think, all Events are not as necessary, as the change of the Moon, or the setting of the Sunne, for all have not so necessary causes: unlesse you will say, to walk or stand, to be rich or poore, to fall in battell, or to conquer, are as necessary effects as Darknesse, when the Sun sets, or Light, when it riseth in our Horison: And this indeed may bring in a new kind of Predestination, to walke or stand, to Riches, and Poverty, to Victory and Captivity, as well as to Everlasting life, and ever∣lasting perdition.

But, posito, sed non concesso, Let us suppose it, though we grant it not, That the Providence of God hath laid a Necessity upon such Events as these, yet it doth not certainly upon those Actions which concerne our everlasting welfare, which either raise us up to hea∣ven, or cast us downe to destruction. It were not much material (at least a good Christian might think so) whether we sit or walke, whether he predetermine that we be rich or poor, that we Con∣quer

or be overcome: what is it to me, though the Sun stand still, if my feet be at Liberty, to runne the wayes of Gods Commande∣ments? what is it to me, if the Moon should start out of his Sphere, if I lose not the sight of that brightness, which should direct me in my way to blisse? what were it to me, if I were necessitated to Beggary, so I be not a predestinate Bankrupt in the City of the Lord? Let him doe what he will in Heaven and in earth; Let the Sun goe back; let the Starres lose their light, let the Wheele of Nature move in a contrary way, Let the pillars of the world be shaken; Let him doe what he will; It concerns us not further then that we say, Amen, so be it; for we must give him leave, who made the world, to govern it: If all other Events and Actions were ne∣cessary, we might well sit down, and lay our hands upon our mouth; But here 'tis est de totâ possessione, we speak not of Riches and Pover∣ty, or faire weather and tempests, but of Everlasting life, and ever∣lasting Damnation; and to entitle God either directly or indirectly, to the sinnes and death of wicked men, so to lay the Scene, that it shall appeare, though mask'd and vail'd with limitations and di∣stinctions, and though they be not positive, yet leave such Premises, out of which this conclusion may easily be drawne, is a high re∣proach to Gods Infinite Goodnesse, a Blasphemy, however men wipe their mouthes after it, of the greatest magnitude (not to speak the worst) it is to stand up, and contradict him to his face, and when he swears, he would not have us die, to proclame it to all the world, that there be Thousands whom he hath killed already, and destroyed before they were, and so Decreed to doe that from all Eternity, which in Time, he swore he would not doe.

I speak not this to rake the Ashes of any of those who are dead, who either maintained or favoured this Opinion, nor to stirr the Choler of any man living, who may love this Child for the Fathers sake; but for the honor of God, and his everlasting goodnesse, which I conceive to be strangely violated by this Doctrine of Efficacious permission, or by that shift and evasion of a positive efficiency joyn'd (as it is said) inseparably with this permission of sinne, which is so farre from colouring it over, or giving any lovelinesse to it, that it renders it more horrid and deformed, and is the louder blas∣phemy of the two, which clothes, as it were, a Devil, with Light, which yet breaks through it, and rages as much, as if he had been in his owne shape. Permission is a faire word, and bodes no harm, but yet it breathes forth that poysonous exhalation, which kills us; for but to be permitted to sinne, is to be a child appointed to death; The Ancients, especially the Athenians, did account some words omi∣nous, and therefore they never us'd to speak them; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, they call'd 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; The Prison they called the House, The Hangman, * 1.21 the Common Officer, and the like, and the Romanes

would not once mention Death, or say, their friend was dead, but Humanitùs illi Accidit, we may render it in the Scripture Phrase; He is gone the way of all flesh; what their fancy lead them to; Reli∣gion should perswade us, to think, that some words there be, which we should be afraid to mention, when we speake of God: Excitaci∣on to sinne, Inclination, Induration, Reprobation, as they are used, are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, ill-boading words, but yet we must not, with the Heathen onely change the language, and meane the same thing, and call it Permission, when our whole Discourse drives this way, to bring it forward, and set it up for a flat and Absolute Compulsion: for this is but to plough the wind, to make a way, which •…•…oses of it self, as soone as it is made; this is not to Teach men, but to amaze them. Sermo per deflexus, & anfractus veritarem po••rus qu•…•…il, quam ostendit, saith Hilary; when men broach these contradictions to known and common Principles, when they make these Meanders, these wind∣ings and turnings, in their Discourses, they make it also apparent, that they are still in their search, and have not yet found out the Truth. Let us therefore, Fontem à Capite f••dere, as neere as we can, lay open the ground of this mistake and Error, and we shall find it to be an error, as great as this, and hath the same tast and relish with the fountaine from whence it flowed.

For they who make Gods will, which is but permissive, Effective, at the very mention of Gods will, Think of that absolute will of his, which cannot be resisted, by which he made the Heavens, and the earth, and so acknowledge no will of God but that which is ab∣solute and effective, as if that will of his, by which he would have us doe something, were the same with that, by which he will doe something himself, and so in effect, make not onely the Conversion, but the Induration of a sinner the worke of his Omni∣potency. But were not men blind to all objects, but those they de∣light to look on, they might easily discerne a great difference; and that Gods will is broken every Day. His Natural Desire, which is his will to save mankind, is that fulfilled? if it were, there could be no Hell at all. His command, that is, his will, what moment is there, wherein that is not resisted? we are those Divells which kindle that fire, which he made not for us; we are those sonnes of Anak, those Gyant-like fighters against Heaven, which break his Commands with as great ease, as Samson dip his Threads of Towe. We are like those Leviathans, which break the bounds which he hath set us, that esteem Iron as straw, with whom his Threatnings, which he darts at us, are accounted as stubble, and can we, who so often break his will, say, That his will is alwayes fulfilled?

For againe, we must not imagine, That all things that are done in the world, are the worke of his hand, or the effect of that Power

by which he brings mighty things to passe, nor can we so much for∣get God and his Goodness, as to imagine, that upon every Action of man, he hath set a Dixit, & factum est, he spake the word, and it was done, he commanded, and it became Necessary; for some Acti∣ons there be, which God doth neither absolutely will, nor power∣fully resist, but in his Wisedome permitteth to be done, which o∣therwise could not be done, but by his permission; nor doth this will of permission fall crosse with any other will of his; not with his absolute will, for he absolutely permitteth them; not with his primary and Naturall will; for though by his Naturall will, he would bring men to happinesse, though he forbid sinne, though he detest it, as that which is most contrary to his very nature, and which makes men Divels and Enemies to him; yet he may Justly per∣mit it; and the reason is plaine. For man is not as God, qui sibi sufficit ad beatitudinem, who is all-sufficient and Happinesse it self, and therefore was placed in an Estate, where he might work out his owne Happinesse, but still with a Possibility of being miserable. And herein was the Goodnesse and Wisedome of God made vi∣sible; and as from his goodnesse it is, that he loved his Creature, so in his goodnesse and Wisedome he placed before him Good and e∣vill, that he might lay hold on Happinesse, and be good willingly, and not of Necessity. For it is Impossible for any Finite Creature who hath not his completenes, his perfection in himself, to purchase heaven, but upon such termes, as that he might have lost it, nor to lose it, but upon such Termes, as that he might have took it by violence. For every Law, as it supposeth a possibility of being kept, so doth it also a possibility of being broken, which cannot be without permission of sinne, Lex justo non est posita, if Goodnesse had been as Essentiall to man, as his Nature and soule by which he is; if God had interceded by his Omnipotency, and by an irresisti∣ble force, kept sinne from entring into the world; The Jewes had not heard the noise of the Trumpet under the Law, nor the Disci∣ples the Sermon on the Mount under the Gospel; there had been no use of the Comfortable breath of his Promises, nor the Terror of his Threatnings; for who would make a Law against that, which he knows will never come to passe? a Law against sinne, supposeth a permission to sinne, and a possibility of sinning. Lastly, it stands in no shew of opposition to his occasion'd and consequent will; for we must suppose sinne, before we can take up the least conceit of of any will in God to punish. Omnis poena, si justa est, peccati poena est, saith Austin, in his Retractations; all punishment that is just, is the punishment of sinne, and therefore God, who of his Naturall Good∣nesse would not have man commit sinne, out of his Justice wills man's Destruction, and will not repent: Sic totus Deus bonus est, dum pro bono omnia est, * 1.22 saith Tertullian, Thus God is entirely good, whilst all he is, whether Mercifull, or severe, is for Good: minus

est tantummodò prodesse, quia non aliud quid possit, quam prodesse, his reward might seem too loose, and not carry with it that Intinite valew and weight, if he could not reach out his hand to punish, as well as to reward, and some distrust it might work in the creature, That he could not doe the one, if he could not doe both: So •…•…en, sinne is permitted, though God hate sinne; that which brings us to the gates of Death, is permitted, though God hath tendered •…•…s will with an Oath, That he will not have us die; Though he forbids sinne, though he punish it, yet he permitts it, I have said too little; Nay, he could nor forbid, and punish it, if he did not permit it. Yet per∣mission is permission, and no more, nor is it such a Trojan Horse, nor can it swell to that bulke and Greatnesse, as to hide and conteine within it those Monsters of Fate and Necessity; of Excaecation, and ex∣citation, of inclination, and induration, which devoure a soule, and cannot be resisted; which bind us over unto Death, when the noise is loud about us, why will ye die? For this permissive Will of God, or his will of permission is not operative, nor efficacious; neither is it a remitting, or slackning of the will of God, upon which sinne, as some pretend, must necessarily follow; nor is it Terminated in the thing permitted, but in the permission it self alone; for to permit sinne is one Thing, and to be willing that sinne should be commit∣ted is another; for it is written in the leaves of Aeternity, That God will not have sinne committed, as being most abhorrent, and Contrary to his Nature, and will, and yet this permission of sinne is a posi∣tive Act of his will; for he will permit sinne, though he hath clothed it with Death, to make us afraid of it, and upon paine of Eternall Damnation, forbids us to sinne, though it were his will to permitt it. These two; To be willing to permit sinne, and to be willing that sinne should be committed, are as different in sense, as in sound, unless we will say, That he who permits me to be woun∣ded, when I would not look to my self, and hold up my buckler, ••id cast that Dart at me, which sticks in my sides: we have been told indeed, Qui volens permittit peccata, certè vult voluntate permissivâ ab alijs fieri, That he that is willing to permit sinne, by that permissive will, is willing also to have that sinne committed; but it is so unsa∣voury, so thin and empty a Speech, that the least cast of the Eye pierceth through it, a rotten stick whitled by unskilfull hands, to make a Pillar to uphold that Fabrick of the Fancy, The absolute De∣cree of Reprobation. Take away this supporter, That God will have that to be done, which he permits, that is, That he will have that to be done, which he forbids, and down falls this Babel of Confusion to the ground.

And now what is God's will? Haec est voluntus Dei, sanctificatio vestra; This is his will, even your sanctification; Saint Luke calls it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the Counsell of God, and so doth Saint Matthew, * 1.23 his

counsell his wish, his desire, his will, his naturall, syncere, and con∣stant will, and it savours of much vanity and weakness, to talke and dispute of his Decree, which in respect of particulars, must needs be to us most uncertaine, when we certainly know his will, when he cries to day if you will heare his voice; when his Precepts, his Laws are promulg'd, hodie, To Day, to enquire what he did before all Eterni∣ty; we may rest on the Goodnesse of God, who would not have crea∣ted us, * 1.24 if he had not loved us; (I have made thee, I have formed thee, I have Created thee, saith God, for my Glory) on the Mercy of God, with which it could not consist, to precondemne so many to Misery before they were; upon the Justice of God, which cannot punish without desert, which could not be in the Creature, before he was; and on the Wisedom of God, which doth nothing, much lesse doth make man for nought, stamp his Image upon him, to deface it, nor useth to make and unmake, to build, and pull down, to plant, and to digge up; and to the grace of God, which hath appeared unto all men, that they may know him to be the True God, and him, whom he hath sent Christ Jesus.

But now we are told, that some places of Scripture there are, which seem to give God a greater hand in sinne, then a bare, and feeble, and uneffective permission; for in the 6. of Esay. 9, 10. vers. God bids the Prophet, Goe, tell the People, Crassum reddito cor populi hujus, Make the heart of this people fatt, and their eares Heavy, lest they see with their Eyes, and heare with their Eares, and be converted. Now to make their heart fatt, and their eares heavy, and to shut up their eyes, is more then a bare permission, is in a manner to destine, and appoint them to Death; most true; if it can be proved out of this place, that God did either. But it is one thing to Prophesy a Thing shall be done, and another to doe it; Hector in Homer foretells A∣chilles Death, and Herod the fall of Mezentius in Virgil, and our Sa∣viour the Destruction of Hierusalem; but neither was Hectors Pro∣phesy the cause of Achilles Death, nor Herods of Mezentius, nor our Saviour of the Destruction of Hierusalem; vade & dic, Goe, and tell them; makes it a plame prediction, what manner of men they would be, to whom Christ was to speake, stubborn and refractory, and such as would harden their faces against the Truth. If you will not take this Interpretation, our! Saviour is an Interpreter one of a Thousand, nay, one for all the world, and tells the multitude, that in them was fulfilled the Prophesy of Esay, which saith, By hearing you shall heare, and not understand, Matth. 13.14. for this Peoples heart is waxen fat, and their eyes have they closed, that they might not see. And here, if their eyes were shut, it were fit one would Think, they should be open'd; True (saith Chrysostome) if they had been borne blinde, or if this had been the immediate Act of God; but because they wilfully shut their eyes, he doth not say simply,

they do not see, but seeing they do not see to shew what was the cause of their blindnesse, even a perverse and froward heart: they saw his Miracles; they said he did them by Beelzebub. He tells them that he is come to shew them the will of God; they are peremptory and resolute, that he is not of God, and bring corrupt Judges a∣gainst their own sight, and understanding, they were justly pu∣nisht with the losse of both: For it is just, that he should be blind, that puts out his own eyes. Yet was not this incrassation or blind∣ing through any malevolent influence from God, but this action is therefore attributed to God, because whatsoever light he had afforded them, whatsoever means he had offered them, whatsoe∣ver he did for them, was through their own fault and stubbornness of no more use to them, then colours to a blinde man, or as the Wise-man speaks a messe of Pottage on a Dead-mans Grave.

We might here Sylvam ingentem commovere, meet with many other places of Scripture like to this, but we will touch but one more, and it is that, which is so common in mens mouthes, and at the first hearing conveighs to our understanding a shew and ap∣pearance of some positive act in God, which is more then a bare permission; For God tells Moses in plain termes Indurabo cor Pha∣raonis, I will harden Pharaohs heart. Exod. 7.3. And here I will not say with Garson, aliud est litera, aliud est literalis sensus, that the let∣ter is one thing, and the litteral sense another, * 1.25 but rather with Hilary, Optimus est lector, qui dictorum in telligentiam ex dictis potius expectet, quam imponat, & retulerit magis quam attulerit, he is the best reader of Scripture, who doth rather wait and expect what sense the words will beare, then on the sudden rashly fasten what sense he please, and carry away the meaning, not bring one; nor cry this must be the sense of the Scripture, which his presumpti∣on formerly had set down; Sure I am none of the Fathers, which I have seen, make this induration, and hardning of Pharaohs heart a positive act of God; not Saint Augustine himself, who was more likely to look this way then any of the rest, although he interprets this place of Scripture in divers places; * 1.26 I will but men∣tion one, and it is in one of his Lent Sermons Quoties auditur cor Pharaonis Dominum obdurasse &c. As often as it is read in the Church that God did harden Pharaohs heart, some scruple pre∣sently ariseth not onely in the mindes of the ignorant Laity, but of the Learned Clergy, and for these very words the Manichees most Sacrilegiously condemned the old Testament, and Marcion rather then he would yeeld that good and evil proceeded from the same God, did run upon a grosser impiety, and made another, two prin∣ciples, one of good, and another of evil; But we may lay this, saith he, as a sure ground and an infallible Axiome, Deus non de∣serit

nisi prius deserentem, God never forsakes any man, till he first forsake God. When we continue in sin, when the multitude of our sins beget despair, and despair obduration, when we adde sin to sin, and to make up the weight that sinks us; when we are the worse for Gods mercy, and the worse for his Judgements, when his mercy hardens us, and his light blindes us, God then may be said to harden our hearts, as a Father by way of upbrayding may tell his prodigal and Thristlesse son, ego talem te feci, tis my love and goodnesse hath occasioned this, I have made thee so by spa∣ring thee, when I might have struck thee Dead; I have nourish∣ed this thy pertinacy, although all the Fathers love and indulgency was grounded upon a just hope and expectation of some change and alteration in his son. Look upon every circumstance in the story of Pharaoh, and we cannot finde one, which was not as a Hammer to malleat and soften his stony heart, nor do we read of any, upon whom God did bestow so much paines: His ten plagues were as ten Commandements to let the people go, and had he relented at the first, saith Chrysostom, he had never felt a se∣cond; so that it will plainly appear, that the induration and hardning Pharaohs heart, was not the cause, but the effect of his malice and rebellion, Magnam mansuetudinem contemptae gratiae ma∣jor sequi solet ira vindictae, for the contempt of Gods mercy (and there is mercy even in his Judgements) doth alwayes make way for that induration, which calls down the wrath of God to re∣venge it. We do not read that God decreed to harden Pharaohs heart, but when Pharaoh was unwilling to bow, when he was deaf to Gods Thunder, and despised his Judgements, and scorn'd his Miracles, God determined to leave him to himself, to set him up as an ensample of his wrath, to work his Glory out of him, to leave him to himself and his own lusts, which he foresaw would lead him to ruine and destruction.

But if we will tie our selves to the letter, we may finde these several expressions in several Texts, 1. Pharaoh hardned his heart; 2. Pharaohs heart was hardned; 3. God hardned Pharaohs heart; and now let us Judge whether it be safer to interpret Gods induration by Pharaohs, or Pharaohs by Gods; for if God did actually and immediately harden Pharaohs heart, then Pharaoh was a meer patient, nor was it in his power to let the people go, and so God sent Moses to bid him do that, which he could not, and which he could not, because God had hardned him; but if Pharaoh did actu∣ally harden his own heart (as 'tis plain enough he did) then Gods Induration can be no more then a just permission, and suffering him to be hardned, which in his wisdom and the course he ordi∣narily takes, he would not, and therefore could not hinder; suf∣ficit unus Huic operi, one is enough for this work of induration, and

we need not take in God; for to keep to the letter in the former hakes a main principle of truth; that God is in no degree Au∣thor of sin; but to keep to the letter in the latter cleeres all doubts, prevents all objections, and opens a wide and effectual door to let as in to a cleer sight of the meaning of the former; For that man doth harden his owne heart, is undeniably true; But that God doth harden the heart is denied by most, is spoken darkly and doubtfully by some, nor is it possible that any Christian should speak it plainly or present it in this hideous & monstrous shape, but must be forced to stick and dresse it up with some far fetcht, and impertinent limitation, or distinction.

For lastly, I cannot see, how God can positively be said to do that, which is done already to his hand; For induration is the pro∣per, and natural effect of sin; and to bring in God alone is to leave nothing for the devil or man to do, but to make Satan of a Serpent, a very flie indeed, and the soul of man nothing else but a forge and shop to work those sins in, which may burn and consume it ever∣lastingly. God and nature speak the same thing many times, * 1.27 though the phrase be different; that wihch the Philosopher calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a ferity and brutishnesse of nature, that in Scripture is called hardnesse of heart; for every man is shaped and formed and con∣figured saith Basil to the actions of his life, whither they be good or evil, one sin draws on another, and a second, a third, and at last we are carried 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of our own accord, and as it were by the force of a natural inclination, till we are brought to that extremity of sin, which the Philosopher calls Ferity, a shaking of all that is man about us, and the holy Ghost 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a re∣probate minde: And such a minde had Pharaoh, * 1.28 who was more and more enraged by every sin which he had committed, as the Wolf is most fierce and cruel, when he hath drawn and tasted blood. For it is impossible that any should accustome themselves to sin, and not fall into this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, this hardesse of heart, and in∣disposition to all goodnesse; and therefore we cannot conceive that God hath any hand in our death, if we die, and that derelicti∣on, Incrassation, excaecation; hardnesse of heart are not from God fur∣ther, then that he hath placed things in that order, that when we accustome our selves to sin, and contemn his grace, blindnesse and hardnesse of heart will necessarily follow, but have no relation to any will of his, but that of permission; and then this expostulation is real and serious, Quare moriemini?

Why will ye die?—

And now to conclude, I have not been so particular as the point

in Hand may seem to require, nor could I be in this measure of Time, but onely in Generall, stood up in defence of the Good∣ness and Justice of God; for shall not the Judge of all the Earth doe right? shall he necessitate men to be evill, and then bind them by a Law to be good? shall he exhort, beseech them to live, when they are dead already? shall his Absolute Dominion be set up so high, from thence to ruine his Justice? This indeed, some have made their Helena, but 'tis an ugly and ill-favoured one; for this they fight unto Death, even for the Book of life, till they have blot∣ted out their names with the Blood of their Brethren: This is Drest out unto them as savoury meat set for their palate, who had ra∣ther be carried up to heaven in Elias fiery Charriot, then to pace it thither with Trouble and paine. That GOD hath absolutely Decreed the salvation of some particular men, and pas∣sed sentence of Death upon others, is as Musick to some eares, like Davids Harpe, to refresh them, and drive away the Evill Spirit. Et qui amant, sibi somnia fingunt, mens desires doe easily raise a belief, and when they are told of such a Decree, they dreame themselves to Heaven; for, if we observe it, they still chuse the better part, and place themselves with the sheep at the right Hand, and when the Controverly of the Inheritance of Heaven is on foot, to whom it belongs, they do as the Romanes did, who, when two Cities conten∣ding about a piece of Ground, made them their Judge to determine whose it was, fairly gave sentence on their own behalf, and took it to themselves: because they read of Election, elect themselves, which is more indeed, then any man can deny, and more I am sure, then themselves can prove; And now, Oh Death, where is thy sting? The sting of Death is sin, but it cannot reach them, and the strength of sinne is the Law, but it cannot bind them; for sinne it self shall Turne to the good of these Elect and Chosen Vessels; and we have some reason to suspect, that in the strength of this Doctrine, and a groundless conceit that they are these particular men, they walk on all the daies of their life in fraud, and malice, in Hypocrisy and disobedience, in all that uncleannes and pollution of sinne, which is enough to wipe out any name out of the Book of Life; Hoc saxum defendit Manlius, * 1.29 hic excidit; For this they rowse up all their For∣ces, this is their rock, their fundamentall Doctrine, their very Ca∣pitol, and from this we may feare many thousands of soules have been Tumbled down into the pit of Destruction: at this rock ma∣ny such Elect Vessells have been cast away.

Again, others miscarry as fatally on the other hand; for when we speak of an absolute Decree upon particulars, unto the vulgar sort, who have not Cor in Corde, as Austin speaks, who have their Judgement not in their Heart, but in their sense, they soon con∣ceive a fatall necessity (and one there is, that called it so, Fatum

Christianum, the Christian mans Destiny) they think themselves in chaines and shackles, that they cannot Turne, when they cannot be predestinate not to Turne, but to die, because they will not Turne. I will give you a remarkable instance, and out of Mr. Calvin; Quin∣tinus, * 1.30 the Father of the Libertines (as Calvin himself calls him) as he rides in company, by the way lights upon a man slaine, and ly∣ing in his goare, and one asking who did this bloody deed? he rea∣dily replies, I am he that did it, if thou desire to know it; and art thou such a Villaine, saith the party againe, to doe such an Act? I did it not my self, saith he, but it was God that did it. And being askt againe, whether we may impute to God those hainous sinnes which in Justice he will and doth so severely punish? So it is said he, Thou didst it, and I did it, and God did it; for what thou or I do, God doth; and what God doth, that thou and I do; for we are in him, and he in us, he worketh in us, he worketh all in all. Quintanus is long since dead, but his error dyed not with him, * 1.31 for it is the policy of our common Enemy, to remove our Eye as farre as he can from the Command, and he cannot set it at a greater distance, then by fixing it on Eternity, that so whilst we think upon the Decree, we may quite forget the Command, and never fly from Death, because for ought we know, we are kill'd already, never doe our Duty, be∣cause God doth whatsoever he will in Heaven and in Earth; ne∣ver strive to be better then wee are, because God is all in All.

Let us then walk on in a middle way, and neither flatter, nor af∣flict our selves with the thought of what God may doe, or what he hath done from all Eternity; let us not busy our selves in the fruit∣lesse study of the Book of Life, which no man in Heaven or in Earth is able to open and look into, but only the Lyon of the Tribe of Judah, Revel. 5.3,5. in that Book, saith Saint Basil, * 1.32 no names are written, but of them that Repent: Let us not seek what God De∣crees, which we cannot find out; but hearken to what he Com∣mands, which is nigh us, even in our mouthes. The Book of Life is shut and sealed up: but he hath opened many other Books to us, and bids us sit downe and read them: The Book of his Works, of which the Creatures are the leaves, and the Characters the Good∣nesse and Power, and Glory of God: and the Book of his Words, the Book of the Generation of JESVS CHRIST, to be known and read of all men; and if these Words be written in thy Heart, thy name is also written in the Book of Life; And the Book of thy Con∣science, for the information of which, all the Books in the world were made, and if thou read, and study this with care and dili∣gence, and an impartiall eye, and then find there no Bill, or Indict∣ment against thee, then thou maist have confidence towards God, that he never past any Decree or Sentence of Death against thee,

and that thou art ordained to Life. This is the true method of a Christian mans studies, not to look too stedfastly backward upon Aeternity; but to look down upon our selves, and ponder and direct our paths, and then look forward to eternity of Blisse.

For Conclusion; we read of the Philosopher Thales, that lift∣ing up his eyes to observe the Course of the Starres, he fell into the water, which gave the occasion to a Damsell called Thressa, of an ingenious and bitter scoffe: That he who was so busy to see what was done in Heaven, could not observe what was even before his feet; and it is as true of them, who are so bold and forward in the Contemplation of Gods Eternall Decree, many times they fall dangerously into those Errours which swallow them up; they are too bold with God, and so negligent of themselves, Talke more what he does, or hath done, or may doe, then do what they should; are so much in Heaven, and to so little purpose, that they lose it; But the Apostles method is sure, to use diligence to make our Electi∣on sure, and so read the Decree in our Obedience, and syncere con∣versation, and if we can perswade our selves, that our Names are written in the Book of Life, yet so to behave our selves, so to work on with Feare and Trembling, as if it were yet to be done; as it was told the Philosopher, that he might have seen the figure of the Starres in the water, but could not see the water in the starres. All the knowledge we can gaine of the Decree, is from our selves; it is written in heaven, and the Characters we read it by on Earth: are Faith and Repentance: if we beleeve, and repent, then God speaks to us from heaven, and tells us, we shall not die; If we be dead to sinne, and alive to Righteousnesse, we are enrolled, and our names are written in the book of Life; here, here alone is the Decree le∣gible, and if our eye faile not in the one, it cannot be deceived in the other; If we love Christ, and keep his Commandements, we are in the number of Elect, and were chosen from all Eter∣nity.

Be not then cast downe, and dejected in thy self with what God hath done, or may do by his absolute Power, for thou maist build upon it; He never saved an Impenitent, nor will ever cast away a Repentant sinner. Behold, he calls to thee now by his Prophet; Quare morieris? Why wilt thou die? didst thou ever heare from him, or from any Prophet, a morieris, that thou shalt die, or a Mortuus es, that thou art dead already? Thou hast his Prayers, his intrea∣ties, and besseechings, Expandit manus, he spreads forth his hands all the day long; Thou hast his wishes; Oh that thou wert wise, so wise as to look upon the moriemini, to consider thy last end: Thou hast his Covenant, * 1.33 which he sware to our fore-fathers Abraham, and his seed for ever: His Comminations, his obtesTations, his expostula∣tions

thou mayest read, but didst thou ever read the book of life? Look on the moriemini, look on the deaths head in the Text, look not into the book of life; thou hast other care that lies upon thee, thou hast other businesse to do; thou hast an understanding to a∣dorn, a will to watch over, affections to bridle, the flesh to cru∣cifie, temptations to struggle with, the devil to encounter: Think then of thy duty, not of the decree, and the syncere performance of the duty will seal the decree, and seal thee up to the day of re∣demption. It is a good rule, which Martin Luther gives us, Di∣mitte Scripturam ubi obscura est, tene ubi certa, where the text is dark and obscure, suspend thy judgement, and where it is plain and easy, expresse and manifest it in thy conversation, which is the best des∣cant on a plain song. Thou readest, there are vessels made to dishonour; whether God made them so, as some will have it, or they made themselves so, as Basil and Chrysostome interpret it, it concerns not thee; That which concerns thee is plain, thou mayest run and readit, that thou must possesse thy vessel in honour, and build up thy self in this holy faith: the Quare moriemini? is plain, it is plain that God is not willing thou shouldest die, but hath shewed thee a plain passage unto life; hath not indeed supplied thee with means to interpret riddles, and untie knots, and explain and resolve hard texts of Scri∣pture; but he hath supplied thee with meanes of life, brought thee to the gates of paradise, to the wayes of life, and the wells of salva∣tion. The lines are fallen to thee in a faire place. Behold, he hath placed thee in Domo Israelis, in the house of Israel, in domo salutis in the house of salvation.

Which is next to be considered.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Philostrat. in vit. Herodis.
• * 1.2

  Isa. 5.13.
• * 1.3

  Naz. Or. 20.
• * 1.4

  Wisd. 1.12.
• * 1.5

  Basil. Hem. in Famem & sicci••.
• * 1.6

  l. 4. c. 28.
• * 1.7

  Athena. Lega∣tio pro Christi∣anis.
• * 1.8

  Sext. Emperic. adv. Mathe∣mat. pag. 327.
• * 1.9

  1 Tim. 1.11.
• * 1.10

  Tert. adv. Mar∣cion. l. 2.
• * 1.11

  Tert. advers. Marc. l. 2. c. 11.
• * 1.12

  Isai. 28.21.
• * 1.13

  Aquin. 2.2 q. 132. art. 1.
• * 1.14

  Tert. ibid.
• * 1.15

  Prov. 14.28.
• * 1.16

  Ezek. 16.••1.13.21.
• * 1.17

  Tert. in vit. Agr.
• * 1.18

  Naz. Or. 3.
• * 1.19

  Aquin. pri•…•…. part. q. 22.
• * 1.20

  Josh. 10.12.
• * 1.21

  Helladius apud Photium.
• * 1.22

  Tert. l. 2. adv. Marcion.
• * 1.23

  1 Thess 4.3. Luk. 7.30.
• * 1.24

  Isa. 43.7.
• * 1.25

  Hil de Trin. l. 8.
• * 1.26

  Augustin: Fe∣riâ 4 post 3. Dominic: in Quadrages. Pharaoh non potentiae, sed patientiâ Dei indurabatur, id. Ser. 88.
• * 1.27

  Aristot l. 7. Eth. c. 1.
• * 1.28

  1 Rom. 2.8.
• * 1.29

  Sen. Controv.
• * 1.30

  Cont. Libertin: And yet his own followers use the ••am words, bring the same Lexis, and Apply them as the Liber∣tines did. vide Piscat. Aphorismos.
• * 1.31

  Fataliter con∣sti••utam est quando, & quant••perè unusquis{que} no∣strum pietatem colere, vel non colere 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Piscator. ad ••uplicat. Vorstij. p. 2••8.
• * 1.32

  Comment. in 10. c. Isai.
• * 1.33

  Deut. 23.29.